Too Much of Psychology

It never ceases to amaze me how 'suicidal' many kids (especially boys) are where their own education is concerned. I recently took over a Form 4 class. Right from the start, I noticed a sizable number of them, showing no interest whatsoever in their lessons. By my second lesson with them, 7 of them didn't enter. Names were written in the Buku Ponteng but it doesn't seem to make much difference. Lack of immediate action is the culprit.

The following lesson, 4 were in class when I entered. I asked them what I should do with them. I got nonchalant looks. Such kids stay on and disrupt classes. They are so over their own heads being rebellious; add that to the raging hormones of teenage growth which makes them kinda a little off the world. They think it's a bore coming to school and that the school owes it to them to make sure they stay in class.... *read that as us encouraging irresponsibility*. Counseling makes no difference. The only action that seemed to have an effect was when the school had this policy of expelling such kinds of students. But they say such students then become other schools' problem. I think this policy of making sure that kids stay in school till they are 17 is counter productive in such cases. Kids like these drag other kids down with them.... kerana nila setitik, rosak sebelanga susu. They are better off getting jobs outside. And if at all after a few years they find that they need the education, then by all means have schools for such kind of people. They make better students by then, for sure.

Too much counseling is pointless. Kids wizened up very quickly, in this case sometimes not necessarily to their own good. Sometimes, at that age all these boys understand is just discipline and routines. They should be trained to just follow those routines. Bad behavior is a product of us ignoring the fact that this passing phase in their lives require greater and stricter discipline. We need not try to think that the bad behavior is induced by other reasons because most of the time, they're not. The failure to use discipline on them has allowed whole generations to grow up irresponsible to themselves. And like it or not, the society will have to bear some of the consequences too.

I've a boy of my own. Raising boys tend to be more difficult, I experience, and it's still an ongoing struggle. We're not quite done where our girl is concerned but so far, her level of empathy seems higher; she seems to read situational problems better; in short her EQ part seems to be kicking in and working. I deal less with her behavioral problems. Most problems I face with her are lesson related. With my boy, I had to deal with both sets, and very often plus-plus other things as well. It's the same in class too. Less girls play truant at school. If they come to school, they are more likely to stay in class. Can't say the same for the boys though. The challenge of teaching is not in the good schools. It's schools like mine, where we're up against very often, family backgrounds.

It's barely a week into the term. And I am beginning to miss the hols a great deal.